History of BulgariaHistory of Bulgaria
Cut-out detail; background removed. Museum display of a stone slab with a Greek inscription about restoring a tower. Hermogenes is named in the text; his office and the precise date are disputed. Photograph taken in Sofia, not at the cape.
Stone inscription

Kaliakra · Second Tsardom

The cliff and the fleets

Why is the cape easy to defend?

9 scenes · 3 min · Sources · 22

StartListen

An inscribed stone, a capital above the sea and ships beside the shore. Look at Kaliakra’s evidence and distinguish history from the legend of the forty maidens.

A present-day view of the sea and the cape’s high cliffs.
Geographic context, without historical bordersGeographic context, without historical borders1
Geographic context, without historical borders

Part 1 · Second Tsardom

A cliff guarding the coast

Ahead is a long headland of rock. Kaliakra reaches about two kilometres into the Black Sea. Its cliffs rise tens of metres above the water. The approach from the land is narrow. This probably made defence easier.

An ancient geographer describes a stronghold used as a treasury, a room for valuables. This place is usually linked with Kaliakra. Archaeologists are still exploring the cape’s earliest past.

Listen to scene · 1

Synthetic voice · 0:25
Sources · 4
  1. Министерство на туризма на Република България Kaliakra Fortress
  2. Strabo; translated by Horace Leonard Jones The Geography of Strabo, Book VII, chapter 6 Loeb Classical Library, vol. III, William Heinemann / G. P. Putnam’s Sons; digitised by Bill Thayer, LacusCurtius · 1924 · 275–281
  3. Filip Petrunov Early Bulgarian monuments from Kaliakra PDF Studia Academica Šumenensia · 2024 · 11 · 143–151
  4. Национален археологически институт с музей при БАН Разкопки на крепостта Калиакра НАИМ–БАН · 2008
Museum display of a stone slab with a Greek inscription about restoring a tower. Hermogenes is named in the text; his office and the precise date are disputed. Photograph taken in Sofia, not at the cape.

Part 2 · Second Tsardom

A tower recorded in stone

In Roman times the fortress grew. A stone slab from Kaliakra tells us about construction. Its Greek letters record the restoration of a tower from its foundations. They name Flavius Hermogenes.

Who was he? Some researchers link him with a military commander. Another interpretation makes him governor of a province, a large region of the empire. The inscription’s precise date therefore remains disputed. In this photograph it is in a museum display in Sofia.

1 · Letters in stone
This building inscription records the restoration of a tower. Inscriptions can preserve information about construction.
2 · The name Hermogenes
The name Hermogenes is in the lower part of the inscription. His office has different interpretations.
3 · The broken slab
The photograph shows two joined fragments. The break is visible, but it alone cannot tell us when the stone broke.

Listen to scene · 2

Synthetic voice · 0:28
Sources · 4
  1. Община Варна Kaliakra cape and Kaliakra archaeological reserve Visit Varna, official municipal tourism portal
  2. Małgorzata Krawczyk Flawiusz Hermogenes – magister equitum Konstancjusza II czy praeses provinciae Scythiae? U schyłku starożytności – Studia źródłoznawcze; Wydawnictwo Naukowe Sub Lupa · 2016 · 15 · 31–40
  3. Małgorzata Krawczyk / University of Warsaw Flawiusz Hermogenes – magister equitum Konstancjusza II czy praeses provinciae Scythiae? Ewa Wipszycka Warsaw Late Antique Seminar · 2018
  4. Bin im Garten File:National Historical Museum of Bulgaria PD 2012 053.JPG Wikimedia Commons
Present-day view of the arched entrance and walls. Not every visible part survives from the Middle Ages.

Part 3 · Second Tsardom

Dobrotitsa’s capital

In the fourteenth century Kaliakra was Dobrotitsa’s capital. He ruled the Despotate of Dobruja, a state beside the Black Sea. Here, despot is a medieval ruling title. It is not a judgement about his character.

Craftspeople also worked behind the walls. Archaeologists found a jewellery mould, a form used to cast an ornament. Coins and pottery were also made here. This was a town, not just a lookout post.

Listen to scene · 3

Synthetic voice · 0:26
Sources · 5
  1. Filip Petrunov Early Bulgarian monuments from Kaliakra PDF Studia Academica Šumenensia · 2024 · 11 · 143–151
  2. Община Варна Kaliakra cape and Kaliakra archaeological reserve Visit Varna, official municipal tourism portal
  3. Община Каварна История
  4. Национален археологически институт с музей при БАН Разкопки на крепостта Калиакра НАИМ–БАН · 2008
  5. Анастас Ангелов За реконструкцията на средновековната крепостна стена на Калиакра Морски вестник · Компас · 2021

Part 4 · Second Tsardom

Activity: a message on stone

What does the building inscription from Kaliakra record?

  1. The restoration of a tower
  2. Ushakov’s naval battle
  3. The names of the forty maidens
Why is that?

The inscription records tower restoration and names Hermogenes. His office is disputed.

Correct · The restoration of a tower

  1. Małgorzata Krawczyk Flawiusz Hermogenes – magister equitum Konstancjusza II czy praeses provinciae Scythiae? U schyłku starożytności – Studia źródłoznawcze; Wydawnictwo Naukowe Sub Lupa · 2016 · 15 · 31–40
  2. Małgorzata Krawczyk / University of Warsaw Flawiusz Hermogenes – magister equitum Konstancjusza II czy praeses provinciae Scythiae? Ewa Wipszycka Warsaw Late Antique Seminar · 2018

Listen to scene · 4

Synthetic voice · 0:03
Sources · 2
  1. Małgorzata Krawczyk Flawiusz Hermogenes – magister equitum Konstancjusza II czy praeses provinciae Scythiae? U schyłku starożytności – Studia źródłoznawcze; Wydawnictwo Naukowe Sub Lupa · 2016 · 15 · 31–40
  2. Małgorzata Krawczyk / University of Warsaw Flawiusz Hermogenes – magister equitum Konstancjusza II czy praeses provinciae Scythiae? Ewa Wipszycka Warsaw Late Antique Seminar · 2018
Modern photograph of the rocky coast. It does not locate a documented event from the legend.

Part 5 · Second Tsardom

Forty maidens above the sea

A legend told beside these cliffs speaks of forty maidens. In one version they are captives. To escape captivity, they join their braids and jump together into the sea.

This is a legend, not an established event. The tale places it during the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of the region. It gives us no verified date or list of names. A photograph of water below the cliffs cannot prove the story happened at that spot.

Listen to scene · 5

Synthetic voice · 0:26
Sources · 2
  1. Община Каварна История
  2. Welcome.bg (no individual author credited) Легенда за нос Калиакра Welcome.bg, Legends
Depiction of the battle attributed to Afanasy Depaldo, late eighteenth century. An artistic account, not a photograph or a precise map.

Part 6 · Second Tsardom

Ships between coast and fleet

On 11 August 1791 two fleets fought off Kaliakra. A fleet is a group of warships. Fyodor Ushakov led the Russian ships. They faced the Ottoman fleet. Ushakov directed his ships between the shore and the opposing fleet.

The battle ended in a Russian victory and an Ottoman withdrawal. You may also find 31 July for this battle: the old calendar date. The drawing shows an artist’s account of the fighting. It is an artistic scene rather than an accurate nautical map.

Listen to scene · 6

Synthetic voice · 0:31
Sources · 7
  1. Исторически музей Балчик Оръдието
  2. Президентская библиотека имени Б. Н. Ельцина Победа русского флота под командованием Ф. Ф. Ушакова в сражении у мыса Калиакрия Президентская библиотека, День в истории
  3. Zdravka Hristova Georgieva Post-medieval seafaring in the Western Black Sea: archaeological and iconographic evidence for the rig PDF University of Southampton, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Archaeology; PhD thesis, volume 1 of 2 · 2025 · 40–41
  4. Центральный военно-морской музей имени императора Петра Великого Сражение у мыса Калиакрия ЦВММ · 2016
  5. Центральный военно-морской музей имени императора Петра Великого Выставка «Непобедимый Ушаков» ЦВММ · 2017
  6. Центральный военно-морской музей имени императора Петра Великого Рисунок. Сражение близ Варны и Калиакрии 31 июля 1791 года ЦВММ, Акварели и рисунки, object 1884
  7. Афанасий де Палдо File:Сражение при Калиакрии.jpg Wikimedia Commons

Part 7 · Second Tsardom

Activity: put the periods in order

Put these three periods in order, starting with the earliest.

  1. The fortress expands in Roman times
  2. Dobrotitsa’s capital
  3. Battle off Kaliakra
Why is that?

The Roman town comes before the medieval capital. Ushakov’s battle takes place centuries after Dobrotitsa.

Correct order

  1. The fortress expands in Roman times
  2. Dobrotitsa’s capital
  3. Battle off Kaliakra
  1. Община Варна Kaliakra cape and Kaliakra archaeological reserve Visit Varna, official municipal tourism portal
  2. Filip Petrunov Early Bulgarian monuments from Kaliakra PDF Studia Academica Šumenensia · 2024 · 11 · 143–151
  3. Исторически музей Балчик Оръдието

Listen to scene · 7

Synthetic voice · 0:04
Sources · 3
  1. Община Варна Kaliakra cape and Kaliakra archaeological reserve Visit Varna, official municipal tourism portal
  2. Filip Petrunov Early Bulgarian monuments from Kaliakra PDF Studia Academica Šumenensia · 2024 · 11 · 143–151
  3. Исторически музей Балчик Оръдието
Remains of the bath, dated by the Ministry of Tourism to the fourth century. A bath was a communal building for washing.
Low stone walls at Kaliakra today; individual rooms are not dated from this photograph.
Rocky coast and bay in a modern photograph, with wind turbines on the horizon. Not a reconstruction of the battlefield.
Present-day view of steps cut into rock above the sea. The steps have not been dated.

Part 8 · Second Tsardom

A bath and a cave museum

The surviving remains include fortress walls and the foundations of a bath dated to the fourth century. A bath was a communal building for washing. Its low walls outline the rooms.

A cave holds a small museum with finds and a model of the fortress. The model shows a reconstruction of its appearance. The walls visible today also include restored portions.

Listen to scene · 8

Synthetic voice · 0:21
Sources · 6
  1. Министерство на туризма на Република България Kaliakra Fortress
  2. Исторически музей – Каварна Начална страница Official museum website
  3. Анастас Ангелов За реконструкцията на средновековната крепостна стена на Калиакра Морски вестник · Компас · 2021
  4. Michał Derela File:Kaliakra Roman baths.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  5. Elena Chochkova File:Kaliakra E3.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  6. Inga Tomane File:Bulgaria. Kaliakra 2009 (2) 06.jpg Wikimedia Commons

Part 9 · Second Tsardom

Activity: match the people

Match each person with their role. Use the story’s sources too.

  1. Strabo · Geographer who described a fortified cape
  2. Dobrotitsa · Medieval ruler whose capital was Kaliakra
  3. Fyodor Ushakov · Russian naval commander in 1791
Why is that?

Strabo left a written account. Dobrotitsa ruled in the Middle Ages. Ushakov commanded ships in a later naval battle.

  1. Strabo; translated by Horace Leonard Jones The Geography of Strabo, Book VII, chapter 6 Loeb Classical Library, vol. III, William Heinemann / G. P. Putnam’s Sons; digitised by Bill Thayer, LacusCurtius · 1924 · 275–281
  2. Filip Petrunov Early Bulgarian monuments from Kaliakra PDF Studia Academica Šumenensia · 2024 · 11 · 143–151
  3. Исторически музей Балчик Оръдието

Listen to scene · 9

Synthetic voice · 0:04
Sources · 3
  1. Strabo; translated by Horace Leonard Jones The Geography of Strabo, Book VII, chapter 6 Loeb Classical Library, vol. III, William Heinemann / G. P. Putnam’s Sons; digitised by Bill Thayer, LacusCurtius · 1924 · 275–281
  2. Filip Petrunov Early Bulgarian monuments from Kaliakra PDF Studia Academica Šumenensia · 2024 · 11 · 143–151
  3. Исторически музей Балчик Оръдието

A new find for your collection

Kaliakra was a place of defence and maritime rivalry; its legend is not a documented event.

Boyana Church · BoyanaThe faces of BoyanaSee how people lived and worked in another period.Georgi Ivanov · BaikonurInto orbit, without dockingThe Gospels of Ivan Alexander · LondonThe tsar between the pages

People in this story

DobrotitsaFyodor UshakovStraboFlavius Hermogenes

Sources

  1. Исторически музей Балчик Оръдието
  2. Центральный военно-морской музей имени императора Петра Великого Выставка «Непобедимый Ушаков» ЦВММ · 2017
  3. Центральный военно-морской музей имени императора Петра Великого Рисунок. Сражение близ Варны и Калиакрии 31 июля 1791 года ЦВММ, Акварели и рисунки, object 1884
  4. Zdravka Hristova Georgieva Post-medieval seafaring in the Western Black Sea: archaeological and iconographic evidence for the rig PDF University of Southampton, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Archaeology; PhD thesis, volume 1 of 2 · 2025 · 40–41
  5. Община Каварна История
  6. Małgorzata Krawczyk Flawiusz Hermogenes – magister equitum Konstancjusza II czy praeses provinciae Scythiae? U schyłku starożytności – Studia źródłoznawcze; Wydawnictwo Naukowe Sub Lupa · 2016 · 15 · 31–40
  7. Małgorzata Krawczyk / University of Warsaw Flawiusz Hermogenes – magister equitum Konstancjusza II czy praeses provinciae Scythiae? Ewa Wipszycka Warsaw Late Antique Seminar · 2018
  8. Welcome.bg (no individual author credited) Легенда за нос Калиакра Welcome.bg, Legends
  9. Министерство на туризма на Република България Kaliakra Fortress
  10. Исторически музей – Каварна Начална страница Official museum website
  11. Национален археологически институт с музей при БАН Разкопки на крепостта Калиакра НАИМ–БАН · 2008
  12. Центральный военно-морской музей имени императора Петра Великого Сражение у мыса Калиакрия ЦВММ · 2016
  13. Filip Petrunov Early Bulgarian monuments from Kaliakra PDF Studia Academica Šumenensia · 2024 · 11 · 143–151
  14. Michał Derela File:Kaliakra Roman baths.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  15. Афанасий де Палдо File:Сражение при Калиакрии.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  16. Inga Tomane File:Bulgaria. Kaliakra 2009 (2) 06.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  17. Bin im Garten File:National Historical Museum of Bulgaria PD 2012 053.JPG Wikimedia Commons
  18. Elena Chochkova File:Kaliakra E3.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  19. Президентская библиотека имени Б. Н. Ельцина Победа русского флота под командованием Ф. Ф. Ушакова в сражении у мыса Калиакрия Президентская библиотека, День в истории
  20. Анастас Ангелов За реконструкцията на средновековната крепостна стена на Калиакра Морски вестник · Компас · 2021
  21. Strabo; translated by Horace Leonard Jones The Geography of Strabo, Book VII, chapter 6 Loeb Classical Library, vol. III, William Heinemann / G. P. Putnam’s Sons; digitised by Bill Thayer, LacusCurtius · 1924 · 275–281
  22. Община Варна Kaliakra cape and Kaliakra archaeological reserve Visit Varna, official municipal tourism portal

Images

Bin im Garten · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Museum display of a stone slab with a Greek inscription about restoring a tower. Hermogenes is named in the text; his office and the precise date are disputed. Photograph taken in Sofia, not at the cape.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Bin im Garten / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Unmodified. Cut-out detail; background removed.

Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

A present-day view of the sea and the cape’s high cliffs.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Unmodified. Processed image.

Bin im Garten · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Museum display of a stone slab with a Greek inscription about restoring a tower. Hermogenes is named in the text; his office and the precise date are disputed. Photograph taken in Sofia, not at the cape.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Bin im Garten / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Unmodified. Processed image.

Inga Tomane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Present-day view of the arched entrance and walls. Not every visible part survives from the Middle Ages.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Inga Tomane / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Unmodified. Processed image.

Inga Tomane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Modern photograph of the rocky coast. It does not locate a documented event from the legend.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Inga Tomane / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Unmodified. Processed image.

Афанасий де Палдо · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Depiction of the battle attributed to Afanasy Depaldo, late eighteenth century. An artistic account, not a photograph or a precise map.

Open source

Full attribution

Image: Afanasy Depaldo / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Unmodified. Processed image.

Michał Derela · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Remains of the bath, dated by the Ministry of Tourism to the fourth century. A bath was a communal building for washing.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Michał Derela / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Unmodified. Processed image.

Elena Chochkova · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Low stone walls at Kaliakra today; individual rooms are not dated from this photograph.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Elena Chochkova / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Unmodified. Processed image.

Inga Tomane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Rocky coast and bay in a modern photograph, with wind turbines on the horizon. Not a reconstruction of the battlefield.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Inga Tomane / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Unmodified. Processed image.

Inga Tomane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Present-day view of steps cut into rock above the sea. The steps have not been dated.

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Inga Tomane / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Unmodified. Processed image.

Geographic context, without historical borders

Tom Patterson · Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso · Public domain · Natural Earth

Open source

Full attribution

Tom Patterson · Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso